SA: The city will agree to a new change order worth about $15 million to pay the company holding the contract to build the first segment of the rail line because of delays in the start of construction, according to officials with the Hono­lulu Authority for Rapid Transportation.

That increase, along with a previously approved $4 million change order, will boost the cost of the Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. design-build contract for the first segment of the project from an original price of nearly $483 million to a new price of nearly $502 million, according to HART documents.

The new price surfaced in a Dec. 27 letter from the city to the Federal Transit Administration that said the city decided to award the contract in 2009 to "demonstrate to the public that tangible progress was being made" on the project…

CB: The man in charge of Honolulu's rail authority says he doesn't need to show the Federal Transit Administration any new powers to raise funds in an emergency — because the city government already has those powers.

That's the most direct answer yet to a question floating around for nearly a month, since the FTA told HART that the rail financial plan needs to be strengthened before Honolulu can get $1.55 billion in federal grant funds. That question was how could HART raise more money when it doesn't have that authority.

Hamayasu's answer that raising money is the city's job also clarifies how HART views its independence, something that is still being defined a little more than six months after it came into existence as a semi-autonomous agency responsible for rail transit.

The FTA's Dec. 29 letter instructed HART to "demonstrate the availability of additional revenue sources that could be tapped should unexpected events such as cost increases or funding shortfalls occur." Without help, HART can't tap the two emergency funding sources it identifies in its most recent financial plan.

CB: Sierra Club director Robert Harris told the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection Thursday that a fee — which would be charged to consumers at the checkout counter — has worked to reduce plastic bag use in other areas.

“Times and Safeway want to proactively address the issue of single-use bags,” Melissa Pavlicek, who represents the supermarkets, told lawmakers. She said the stores are concerned about the environmental impact of the bags….

If bag use isn’t reduced 75 percent by July 2016, the fee would go up to 25 cents per bag, under the proposal….

By the Sierra Club’s calculations, at 10-cents-a-bag the state would collect $24.6 million with a 50 percent reduction in bag use. But the revenue which would decline to about $5 million if 90 percent of consumers stopped using them. …

The plastic bag bans on the neighbor islands have resulted in an unintended consequence — use of more expensive paper bags has gone up, costing stores thousands of dollars, according to testimony Thursday.

CB: The main House bill banning plastic bag use has competition this year. Iolani High School student, John Kaneshiro, drafted House Bill 1828, which was introduced by Rep. Calvin Say.

Borreca: …a year into his administration, Abercrombie is again hoisting the beginnings of a single-payer plan.

Tucked into the end of a news release summarizing his State of the State speech, Abercrombie said he was introducing legislation to “study the efficacy of combining state government health policy, planning and purchasing into a single agency in order to advance transformation of Hawaii’s health care system and universal access.”

The person charged with getting the levers and gears to mesh is Beth Giesting, who works for the state with the heavyweight title of “healthcare transformation coordinator.” She is

the former chief executive officer of the Hawaii Primary Care Association, which represents the state’s 14 community health care centers. Before that, Giesting was the executive director of the Kalihi-Palama Health Center….

The current system, Giesting says, has lots of problems: We pay for duplicate tests, too many services are split up when they should be coordinated, and there is not enough emphasis on prevention.

“We have a system that isn’t working,” says Giesting.

First off, there can be more coordination toward complete electronic records and using that system to analyze what is working. The system, Giesting says, needs to become sustainable, reliable and satisfactory….

Best Comment: “Yes, tell the state and county employees that their health insurance will be homogenized with medicaid and may even go to support medicaid services and you will see 40,000 people voting in two years for a new governor.”

The numbers show that Hannemann raised less in three months than he did in his first month of fundraising. In the quarter that ended on Sept. 30, after just one month after announcing his candidacy, the former mayor took in $294,745. Complete campaign finance reports are due to the Federal Election Commission at the end of the month.

The former mayor has solidly outpaced his best-known opponent, City Council member Tulsi Gabbard. But Gabbard had a strong showing last quarter. She received $203,500 in donations in the fundraising period that ended Dec. 31, a record-high fundraising showing for Gabbard in this race.

PBN: Hawaii lawmakers have deferred a bill that would have made Internet service providers keep track of every website their customers visit for at least two years.

Naturally, there was a lot of chatter on the Internet and social media sites, including Facebook, about the privacy issues House Bill 2288 would create.

H.B. 2288, which was deferred by the House Committee on Economic Revitalization & Business on Thursday, would require Internet service providers to retain a customer’s name, address and Internet “destination history,” or every Internet protocol address, domain name or host name that a customer visited — for two years.

3 charter school panel members resign in protest after BoE Rejects HSTA Scheme to Kill Laupahoehoe School

SA: Three longtime members of the Charter School Review Panel — Chairman Carl Takamura, former Chairwoman Ruth Tschumy and Pualani Akaka — resigned Thursday to protest the state Board of Education's reversal of the panel's decisions on converting Laupahoehoe School to a charter school….

The 12-member panel already had one vacancy, so the resignations leave it with just eight members. Seven votes are required for action by the volunteer panel, which oversees Hawaii's semiautonomous charter schools….

"I really believe they had their heart in the right place," De Lima said, but panel members "completely ignored the only secret ballot vote that occurred in February 2010." He noted that the applicants had won a $450,000 competitive federal grant. And he said their decision to postpone stakeholder elections until after the charter opened was consistent with their original intent and the law….

Board of Education Chairman Don Horner expressed his respect for the three members and their dedication to public education. He said the board would move "to appoint new members, equally well qualified."

"The challenge is the current governance for charter schools structure is ambiguous," Horner said, adding that he hopes a proposed revamping of the charter law will change that. "In my judgment this will alleviate some of the ambiguity and provide the structure we need in order to move forward."

CB: Here’s a bill that tried to slip in the back door: House Bill 1668 would eliminate tenure for teachers and “educational officers” ….

It also repeals Hawaii Revised Statutes 302A-609, which outlines causes for discharge or demotion and preferred eligibility lists.

Sounds like House Education Chairman Roy Takumi and Vice Chairwoman Della Au Belatti are trying to pave the way for a new teacher and principal evaluation system. See a related bill (HB2527) in the governor’s package, which would allow the Department of Education to establish a performance management system.

CB: House Education ChairmanRoy Takumi and his vice chair, Della Au Belatti, introduced House Bill 1667, which authorizes a state income tax credit up to $500 for “certain expenses” — not including athletic supplies.

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) has awarded a $38.8 million contract with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. to design the rail transit project’s airport section of the elevated rail guideway.

AECOM is responsible for the design of the 5.2-mile portion of the rail guideway from Aloha Stadium to the Middle Street Transit Center in Kalihi. The company was given notice to proceed on the contract and is required to finish the design work by Spring 2013.

Following the scheduled completion of AECOM’s design work, a separate construction contract will be put out to bid for the airport section of the elevated guideway. Future contracts will also be awarded for the design and construction of rail stations along that particular segment of the rail route at Pearl Harbor, Honolulu International Airport, Lagoon Drive and Middle Street.

SA: Sunday’s Pro Bowl game will complete the NFL’s current contract with the Hawaii Tourism Authority, and the two sides have been engaged in negotiations this week for future games….

The Pro Bowl arrived at Aloha Stadium in 1980 and continued through 30 consecutive seasons until the NFL departed from its long-standing Hawaii agreement by going in 2010 to Miami, site of that year’s Super Bowl, a week before the championship game. The game returned to Honolulu last year, but next year’s game may be in New Orleans, where the Super Bowl is scheduled the following week.

A year ago, then-new Gov. Abercrombie added to uncertainty over the Pro Bowl’s future in Hawaii when he mocked the contract, in which the state pays the NFL.

$4 million to host the game. Now, he says, “We would like to continue to have (the game) and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that comes about in a fashion that will make everybody very, very happy.”

…state tourism officials, with Abercrombie’s continued support, need to push determinedly toward the multiyear goal: first, the 2014 Pro Bowl here instead of near chilly New York, that year’s Super Bowl venue; then pursue next year’s bid over New Orleans, and 2015 over the rumored Glendale, Ariz.

HR: Once again, Hawaii state and county government agencies spent far more money lobbying in Washington D.C. than private companies did, according to 2011 U.S. Senate lobbyist disclosure reports.

As has been the case in recent years, Honolulu’s rapid transit agency, HART, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs laid out the biggest bucks to woo political support and budget appropriations from Congress and the executive branch.

But OHA’s lobbying effort, which ballooned to $680,000 in 2005 and has totaled $3.6 million since 1999, dwindled to $160,000 last year as prospects for Congressional approval of the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act have dimmed.

In the last three months of 2011, OHA’s lobbying bill from Patton Boggs, its influential representative in Washington, shriveled to just $10,000, according to records filed with the U.S. Senate. The disclosure data can be accessed here

At First Hawaiian, he moved up the ranks, eventually serving as vice chairman and chief risk officer before becoming the bank’s president and chief operating officer. The succession planning process took about three years, and was very similar to the transition Horner went through before becoming CEO following the retirement of Walter A. Dods Jr…. (Kim il Sung)

The year is off to a good start, with First Hawaiian reporting 2011 net income of $209 million, a 3.4 percent increase compared to 2010. Deposits reached a record $12.2 billion in 2011, an increase of nearly 16 percent compared to 2010, and loans and leases increased by 1.5 percent to $8.4 billion.

Given his background, Harrison seems like the kind of banker who never will forget the names or faces behind the people who are helping First Hawaiian generate those kind of numbers. (Like a politician)

So, don’t be surprised if you don’t find Harrison spending a lot of time in his office. The views may be some of the best in Honolulu, but he’ll be busy spending time with the people who guarantee his success. (Like a politician)

CB: My keiki want to move back home, but there are no jobs. I own my home, but the house behind me is a rental. I cannot tell you how many young couples have moved in and fight until the wee hours of the morning. I hurt because many of our youth know no better, they are stifled to the point that they’re angry, yet they don’t even understand why…. It’s the lack of opportunity and choices, they don’t have much to build their self esteem.

Yet the irony is they stand shoulder to shoulder with those that have extreme voices and sell anger – not realizing that opportunity and knowledge is their cure. When you’re downtrodden, it’s easy to feel anger, it’s easy to reach for drugs, and it’s easy to abuse your spouse and your keiki. I hear it. I see it. Yet I will not succumb to it. But how do I help my community if I don’t have support?

For years I’ve heard from off islanders that “the problem with Molokai is you need leadership to stand up to the activists.” Well, we do have leaders that try. But those that try, play fair, and the activists don’t. It’s hard to overcome against those odds. And the media doesn’t help. The more they glorify things that are sensational for obvious reasons of their own, the harder it is to convey to the rest of the State that those extreme voices do NOT represent the majority, but seeing them on the 10 o’clock news makes one think so.

So I leave it to you, those of you who have been elected to represent the greater majority, to help shape a better message. I beg, plead with you to seek out the real voices, we have been silent too long out of fear and frankly, exhaustion. We can only hope you will do right by us, it is common sense really. The thirty-plus percent of Molokai that live off of government assistance have nothing to lose. What does it matter to them to have a viable economy? Yet there are only so many jobs to be had at this point on Molokai…, and for those who are lucky enough to have gainful employment or businesses, they face the risk every day – that activists will chase another business off the island. I don’t think I’m unduly blowing this out of proportion, there is a well established pattern. So when is enough, enough?

MN: But when she mentioned that Hoy had walked out on that session, Raffetto quickly said, "He walked out?"

He never got a direct answer, but Wong indicated he had quit answering on Fifth Amendment grounds.

Hoy was represented by Dana Ishibashi of Honolulu, who said he was concerned about the federal charges.

Hoy was charged in May with alleged mortgage fraud against mostly Native Hawaiians along with Mahealani Ventura-Oliver and others. But Raffetto also was told that Hoy is a cooperating witness in that case and not really a target of the federal prosecutors.

Ishibashi said Hoy might possibly be faced with self-incrimination in either matter, although so far the Dorcy matter is a probate and trust dispute and no one has been charged with a crime.

SA: Because Skinner was at least 60 years old, the prosecutor is seeking the state's harshest penalty: life in prison without the opportunity for parole. The normal penalty for second-degree murder is life in prison with the possibility for parole.

Austin remains in custody unable to post $200,000 bail.

He pleaded guilty in January 1984 to second-degree burglary for breaking into Mission Houses Museum, stealing some old pictures and journals and selling them.

Circuit Judge Donald Tsukiyama sentenced Austin to five years of probation in March 1984, resentenced him to a new five-year period of probation in June 1985 for violating the terms of his release, then resentenced him to five years in prison in December 1986 for again violating his probation.

Austin was on parole at the time of Skinner's murder up until he completed his sentence in April 1991.

Skinner's murder remained unsolved for more than 20 years until police said they matched Austin's DNA with that of some semen recovered from Skinner's body.

While in Honolulu, Sotomayor will teach classes at the law school, judge a moot court practice, meet with faculty and students throughout the week and address students at Farrington High School in Kalihi. She will be a guest at several scheduled events sponsored by the Hawaii State Bar Association and the Hawaii Women’s Legal Foundation.

Gainesville, FL: Adriana Isabel Vieco, an attorney for the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., filed the motion to have the charges dropped against Cabioch Bontemps, 35, a longtime farm worker in the LaCrosse area, and Miami-area residents Willy Paul Edouard, 48, and Carline Ceneus, 33.

Vieco was appointed to prosecute the case last year, several months after another federal prosecutor, Susan French, sought the indictments.

French was prosecuting a similar case in Hawaii last year when she was removed from the case by justice officials. French was dismissed from the case because of an unspecified health concern and after a defense attorney said the grand jury that indicted his client had been given incorrect information about a federal law.

Carline Ceneus' attorney, Lloyd Vipperman of Gainesville, said the decision to dismiss the local case was likely the result of a change in federal labor laws that was passed in 2008 but did not take effect until 2009, after the Haitians had reached the United States. It was the same law that published reports said French misstated to the grand jury in Hawaii.

Apparently, the indictments were made on a law that was not yet in effect. (This would allow French a sense of consistency while helping Case and Omidyar avoid embarrassment)

Alexey Kats, he indicates that interest in travel to the Aloha State is definitely there. “Due to the fact that interest of Russian tourists to the United States is growing every year, I believe it is important and necessary to offer to potential customers a new direction for the ultimate high-quality recreation,” said Alexey Kats of World Tourism Services.

CB: After an executive session, the Zoning Board of Appeals has recessed for the day. It declined to make a decision on questions of standing and jurisdiction.

Specifically, it’s not yet clear if the board believes the environmental groups challenging Kyo-ya’s proposed Waikiki redevelopment would be personally impacted by the project, and not yet clear if the board believes those groups have identified the errors of fact that Planning Director David Tanoue made when approving the variance for the project.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data show about one-fifth of the roughly 1,100 Hawaiian monk seals in the world are alive today because of interventions to save them, their mother or their grandmother between 1994 and 2009.

Charles Littnan, lead scientist for NOAA's Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Program, says the seal population is also about 30 percent larger today than it would have been if authorities didn't act.

Life of the Land applauds the EPA’s decision today that palm oil does not qualify as a feedstock to produce biodiesel and renewable diesel under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.

“Palm oil plantations in Indonesia, Malaysia and Borneo are destroying tropical rainforests, displacing endangered species and native peoples, and are causing major environmental damage. Palm oil is a major threat to biodiversity which is so critical for the future of the planet.”

AP: The university, which has denied liability for the breaches, said it will settle the case by providing two years of credit monitoring and credit restoration services to class member who request it. The university said it will continue to "work diligently so that the chance of future data breaches is significantly reduced."

There were five data breaches, including one in 2009 where Social Security numbers, grades and other personal information were posted online for nearly a year before being removed. University officials said a faculty member inadvertently uploaded files containing the information to an unprotected server, exposing the names, academic performance, disabilities and other information of more than 40,000 students who attended the flagship Manoa campus from 1990 to 1998 and in 2001.

There were also breaches at the West Oahu campus, Kapiolani Community College and Honolulu Community College.

Thomas Grande, one of the Honolulu attorneys representing the class, called the settlement historic.

"First, this is the largest class case filed or settled in Hawaii," he said. "It also is the first data breach settlement in Hawaii."

HTH: The University of Hawaii at Hilo hopes to secure funding this legislative session to begin construction on a $55 million building for its College of Pharmacy.

Following the spring 2011 completion of the building's $5.5 million design phase, the project is "shovel ready," said UHH Director of University Relations Gerald De Mello, and could begin construction as early as this spring. First, however, administrators must convince the state Legislature to appropriate the $38 million needed for the first phase, he said.

Applications are now being accepted for the next state court interpreter orientation workshop to be held on each of the major islands in February and March. Completion of the two-day workshop is one of the mandatory requirements of becoming a court interpreter for the Hawaii State Judiciary.

Electric-Car Firm That Received Biden Visit and $118M in Stimulus Funds Files for Bankruptcy

CNS: Ener1--a company that manufactures batteries for electric cars, and that received $118.5 million in federal stimulus money, and that Vice President Joe Biden visited last year the day after President Obama’s State of the Union Address—announced today that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In last year’s State of the Union Address, delivered Jan. 25, 2011, President Obama set a national goal of having a million electric vehicles on the road in the United States by 2015—a goal that would be achieved, Obama said, by taking money out of the oil industry and “investing” it in new technology.